All for just £25: the remarkable homebred who swept to Champion Hurdle glory

The When Horses Raced feature on Make A Stand, which appeared in Thursday's Racing Post, brought back both good and bad memories. Good, because the piece was a reminder of the genius of trainer Martin Pipe. Bad, because I backed Space Trucker in the Champion Hurdle Make A Stand won.

I think I've got over it now, though, and Make A Stand's 1997 success conjured up memories of another Champion Hurdle winner of the 1990s who raced a lot: Flakey Dove.

The Richard Price-trained mare ran eight times over hurdles in the 1993-94 season before her victory in March, and three times after it, but before we come to her feats on the track the homebred's back story is well worth telling and I'm indebted to Michael Tanner and his excellent book, The Champion Hurdle 1927-2002, for filling in the details.